Corn popping and vending machine



W; D. ROOT. CORN POPPING AND VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, I918.

Patented Nov. 28,1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. D. ROOT.

CORN POPPING AND VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I4, 1918.

1,436,726, I Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. D. ROUT- comv POPPING AND VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14. I918- 1,436,726. Patented NOV. 28, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3.

w. 0. ROOT.

CORN BOPPING AND VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14. 1918.

1,436,726. I Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET 4.

F2 10 HI! "I )5 m a 8a :2;

j W. D. ROOT. CORN POPFING AND VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14,-19I8.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET 5.

W. D. ROOT.

CORN POPPING AND VENDING'MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I4, 1918.

1,436,726. Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

CORN' sTOfiqGE HEAT-El? M. W M1 W w WILLIAM B. ROOT, or CLEVELAND, OHIO,ASSIGNOE, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To.

THE, GUARDIAN SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY, TRUSTEE, or CLEVELAND, onIo.

. oozanrorrme AND VENDING MACHINE.

Application filed March 14, 1918. Serial No. 222,270.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM .D. ROOT,

citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the countyof'Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Corn Popping and Vending Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to corn popping and vending machines I Theobjects of the invention 'are-to provide an improved machine of thiskind which is wholly automatic and requires no personal attention beyondthe maintaining of supplies of raw corn and ba s or containers; tostimulate the interest 0 the observer attract his attention, andencourage a purchase by exposing practically all of. the mechanism tohis view and extending to him the opportunity of causing actuation/ofthe mechanism by the insertion of a coin in thecoin controllingmechanism; to produce the prompt delivery, after the insertion of a coinor coins, of the proper number of packages of buttered and salted popcorn, the same operation producing actuation of the popping mechanism toreplenish the pop corn withdrawn and delivered from the storagereservoir; and to generally simplify and improve all of the variousunits of the machine sothat they will work in harmony serting the coininto the slot, his ability to with proper co-operation for theproduction of the required results, and which un ts are less likely toget out of order than prior devices or mechanisms for the same purpose.Further objects of the invention are 111 part obvious and in part-willappear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings, which represent one embodimentof the invention, Fig. 1is a front elevation; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, the view being takenfrom the left in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the upper portionof the case and the mechanism therein; Fig. 4 is a detail sideelevation, on a lar er scale, the front casing wall being omitteillustrating the buttering device; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation onthe line 5-5, Fig. 4, the chain being omitted for clearness ofillustration; Fig. 6 is a detail view of one end portion of a chain barand one of the links connected. thereto; Fig.7 is an end view thereof;Fig. 8 is a side view of the salting device; Flg. 9 is an end viewthereof from the right 1n Fig.

8; Fig. lO is a sectional plan view on the line 19-10, Fig. 2; Fig. 11is a sectional plan view on the line 1111, Fig. 2, the lower portion ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 10 being omitted for clearness ofillustration; Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the popping drum, one endwall being omitted; Fig. 13 is a sectional view on the line 1313, Fig,12; Fig. 14 is a similar section on the line 1 1-44, Fig. 12; F i 15 isa diagrammatic. view, illustrating t e electric circuits and some of themechanism associated'therewith; Fig. 16 is a detail. sectional view onthe line 1t 16, Fig. 15; and Fig. 17 is a detail plan view of. a portionof the salting device.

Referring to the drawings, the machine illustrated comprises anenclosing casing, which may be of any suitable form and 15 illustratedas embodying vertical ,corner angle irons 1: which form a. support forthe mechanism as will appear, and to which also are attached the sidewalls 2 of the casing. The lower third or half of the casing may haveits side walls made of wood, metal or 5 opaque material, but the upperportion of the casing preferably has its side-walls made of glass orother transparent material. Most see the mechanism work is an incentiveto ered by a suitable hood or roof 3. In the machine shown in thedra-win s the entire side Walls are of glass merely or simplicity ofillustration.

purchase. The top of the machine is cov- 5, Fig. 15, indicates generallythe coin controlling mechanism or chute, into which the purchaserinserts a nickelor other coin to start the mechanism working. Thismechanism will-be suitably located in the case and will be of anysuitable type. As such devices can be procured in the open market, itneed not be described in detail. v

6 indicates the raw corn reservoir, which is of suitable size to requirereplenishment once every day or so, or at more orless frequent intervalsas may be desired. \Vhen the coin is inserted into the machine a chargeof raw corn is measured out and conveyed from the reservoir 6 to thepopping drum 7, in which it is popped by a suitable heating unit. Thepopped grains are discharged automatically froma door or opening in the"to-wit, the raw corn feeding mechanism, the popping drum and the devicesfor automat1-* cally separating popped and unpopped kernels are operatedby a motor 12, which may,

therefore, be termed the popping motor.

A second motor 13, which may be termed the delivery motor, .actuates theremaining portion of mechanism, said mechanism being arranged whenoperated to,-deliver to the operator or purchaser a definltely measuredcharge of popped corn. This mechanism comprises an elevator 14 whichcarries the popped corn upwardly from the storage reservoir 8 anddischarges it upon or into a suitable transfer device, shown as areciprocating car 15, which delivers the meals ured charge upon thetraveling conveyor of a buttering device 16 from which the corn isdischarged to a salting device'l7, which in turn delivers the corn to achute 18, from I which it maybe withdrawn by theoperator.

I The several units or departments of the machine willnow be describedin detail.

\ -Raw aomfeed. The raw corn reservoir 6 is of hopper form, its bottomoutlet opening into a hor1-' zontal tubular casing or member 20 inwhich.

is a reciprocating feeding device having a portion 21 adapted toclosethe hopper outlet as the feeding device advances, and having a recess orpocket 22 adapted to carry I a charge of corn sufficient for one poppingoperation and deliver the same into the upper end of. a conduit 23 whichdischarges into one end of the popping drum 7 and preferably'at the axisthereof. This feeding device is actuated each time the popping motor 12isset .into operation, for which purpose it is provided with anoutwardly extending rod 24, Fig. 11, pivotally connected to a lever 25pivoted at 26 to a suitable support, the'opposite end of said lever 25extending into the path of a cam 27 on what is known as the three minutewheel 28. Adjacent to'lever 25 is a second lever 29 pivoted at 30 andhaving-a projection 31 engaging the lever 25 between its pivot. 26 andthe rod 24, the opposite'end of said lever 29 extending into the ath ofmoveute wheel 1 When the popping motor 12 begins to op jerate, the firstmotion of the three minute wheel? 28 operated thereby causes the cam 27to engage lever 25 and actuate the same to advance the feeding deviceand deliver a charge of raw corn to the drum. Cam 32 then engages lever29 and restores both levers to their normal positions ready for anotheroperation.

001% popping device. The popping drum 7 may be of any suitable form orconstruction. It preferably .comprises a light metal frame with Wallscircuit being maintained closed so that theheating unit is alwaysheated, or it may be in a circuit closed automatically with establishment of the circuit to the motor 12, as it will come tofulltemperature practically simultaneously with closing of. its circuit, theprecise arrangement being unimportant. The latter arrangement is shownfor convenience in Fig. 15. I

The drum rotates slowly, turning over and ,over the grains of raw cornuntil popped.

Experience shows that it requires practically three minutes to fully popall the good grains in acharge, as a consequence of which thecontrolling heel'28, by properly pro- 36 extendingparallel to and at oneside of the axis of the drum from end to end thereof, the floor orbottom 37 of the trough being inclined downwardly when in dischargingposition as show in Fig. 12. When in this position the popped grainsslide down- ,wardly along the sloping floor and through an opening ordoor 38 in theend of the drum and dropinto the storage reservoir 8.which extends downwardly from the drum nearly to the bottom of the case.This storage reservoir is made as large as possible by'suitably locatingthe mechanism. and,

portioning the driving mechanism, is made generally speaking, is ofhopper form with I ber 40, which extends from end to end of the.

drum, and is of curved form as shown in Fig. 12. The inner portion ofthis selecting member, out to approximately a line indicated at 41, isformed of fine Wire mesh or imperforate metal, so the popped grains willreadily slide thereon, while the remaining outer portion 42 of saidmembers is of larger open mesh screen, the openings being large enoughto allow unpopped grains to readily pass through. While the drumrevolves in a clock-wise direction, Fig. 12, the screen 42 selects thepopped grains as the screen moves over the top of its circle of movementand delivers them to the trough 36 and then to the storage reservoir.The unpopped grains, however, are held back and turned over and over atpractically the bottom of the drum over the heating element until theyare popped, selected and discharged at the next revolution of the drum.

Suitable means is also provided for col lecting and ejecting from thedrum those grains which remain unpopped at nearly the end of the .cycle.For this' purpose ,the drum is provided, behind the selecting member 40in the direction of its movement, with a collecting trough or receiver43, extending from end to end of the drum. and whose floor extends to anoutlet opening 43 in the end drum wall. The other end of the selectingmember has a wide opening normally closed by a door44, hinged at andnormally hel closed by alight spring 46. This door prevents escape ofpopped grains. After all of the popped grains have been selected andejected the door is opened by mechanism to be described and is turned tothe position shown in dotted lines, Fig. .12. Durin r the followingrevolution of the drum the oor serves as a collecting member in the samemanner as the screen 42 and being of solid material picks up anddischarges into the receiver 43 all of the unpopped grains. When theparts reach the position in Fig. 12, these grains are (118- chargedthrough the opening- 43 into the upper end of the bachelor tube 9,already referred to, which is a fairly small conduit leading downwardlyto the small chamber 10 and drawer 11.

The drum is preferably supported only at one end, to enable the raw cornto be delivered to its opposite end, although two end, supports may beused if desired. As il-' lustra'ted it is supported in a bearing 47,.which receives the tubular member 48 at the axis of the drum and towhich it is connected. said tube being provided on its outer end with adriving pulley 49 from which the belt 50 extends to pulley 51 on a shortshaft 52 carrying a worm ear 53 driven by a worm 54 on the shaft 0 motor12; The drum tube 48 is also provided with a small gear 55 whichoperates the three minute wheel 28. I

Within the tube 48 is a filler member 56, half-round in cross sectionand having a solid-circular head'57 which limits the flow of raw kernelsthrough the tube and causes their discharge into the drum through theopenings 58. The-filler member 56 serves to support a light bell cranklever 59, one of whose arms is connected by a link 60 to an arm 60 onthe door and whose other arm is connected to a link 61 slidably mountedon the filler member. The outer end of slide 61 is connected by auniversal joint at 62 to a lever 63 pivoted at 64 to a fixed'support.The opposite end of said lever 63 lies in the path of movement of a cam65 on one face of the three minute wheel 28. Therefore, when the threeminute wheel approaches the end of its cycle of movement, cam 65 opensthe door 44 to produce ejection of the unpopped grains as described, thearm 63 finally leaving cam 65, whereupon spring 46 and a lever spring 63close the door 44 ready for another cycle of operations.

Pop corn elevator. The pop corn elevator 14 is in the for of an endlessbelt band or cross barred chain provided at intervals with a series ofbuckets or shelves 66. Said chain travels over upper and lower sets ofsprockets 67,

68, the latter of which is one shaft 69exwardly moving chain its upperportion is preferably ihclosed by a guard 73, although this is notessential.

Measuring and transfer work.

The pop corn elevator delivers the corn to suitable mechanism formeasuring out a proper charge ofcorn to be delivered to the purchaser,and which, device also conveys said measured charge to the butteringdevice. This measuring device is the boxlike car or container 15 beforereferred to, which has reciprocating motion horizontally upon suitableguides 74. The bottom 75 of said car is loosely hinged thereto along itsrear edge. so that when said car is advanced to its discharge positionsaid bottom drops to the position shown in dotted lines,- Fig. 2,

whereupon t'hecorn in said car flows out along its bottom and betweenthe depending guide aprons 76 tothe buttering device 16,

as will more fully appear.

The car 15 is connected by a link or links 77 operating in a lost motionstrap 77 to. a crank pin on driving wheel 78, connected by a belt 79 toa small pulley 80.0n a shaft 81 connected by beveled gears 82 to theshaft 69.

The normal position of car 15 is illustrated in Fig. 2. As soon as themotor 13 begins to operate the wheel 78 turns over, thereby advancingthe car 15 to discharge position. The retracting movement of said carcloses its bottom by dragging the same over a cross bar 83 connected tothe guide ways'74. As

the car moves back, and also while advancing along the side of theelevator it is filled thereby with a charge of corn. The elevatoroperates fast enough to deliver to the car more than the latter willhold, so as. to' measure a full load, and the excess corn drops backinto the storage reservoir. Just above the car is a stationary comb orfork 92, which levels off the charge of corn in a bottom, and an opentop. forming a reser-- the car as the latter moves past it to thedischarge position and asthe car advances its hinged bottom opens andthe load is delivered to the buttering device.

Bag delivery.

As will appear later, the charge of corn is finally delivered to theconduit 18, whose lower chute end may be of glass or-transparentmaterial and which lies within the case but is protected in a recessopen to acfor supplying to the operator a paper bag,

or other carton. to receive the corn. As illustrated, tl16S6 'l)3gS orcartons indicated at 86 .are piled in a compartment 87 providedwitlranysuitable mechanism for ejecting a single one at each operation.of the transfercar 15.' The drawings show for this purpose an ejectingslide or member88 work-. .ing across the bottom of'the compartment 87and connected to one arm of a lever 89 pivoted at 90 to a fixed supportand having its other arm connected by a link 91 to the car 15, althoughother arrangements may be utilized.

Butter-mg device.

The battering device 16 comprises an incloslng metal casing 93 havingslde walls,

voir for melted butter. This butter can be maintainedinmelted formeither by a small up practically to the last ounce.

detachable electrical resistance element 93 or in any other manner asdesired. The floor 94 of the reservoir slopes downwardly toward one end,so that the butter can be used Within the reservoir is a separatedetachable frame 95 carrying a series of sprocket wheels ordrums 96, thelowermost one of which is at the bottom of the reservoir. Over saidsprockets travels an'endless belt or chain 95. The upper horizontalportion of the belt 95 is exposed and at one end, its left-hand end inFig. 1, is in position to receivethe corn discharged from the car 15. 97indicates a stationary comb which engages the pile of corn delivered tothe belt 95 and levels it off so that practically every kernel thereofcomes in contact with the cross barsof the chain. This chain willpreferably have its links or bars of special form, as indicated in Figs.6 and 7, each link bar being provided with a small cavity or pocket 98which picks up a small amount of melted butter and carries it to the topof the device,.where the bars turn over into horizontal position andallow the butter to flow. out upon the flat surface of the bars andlinks of the chain to be absorbed by the popped grains of corn incontact therewith.

The buttering device is actuated by a crossed belt 99 passing over apulley 100 on.

the shaft of the sprocket 67 and also passing over a pulley 101 on theshaft of one of the upper sprockets 96 and a similar pulley 102 on theshaft of one of the sprockets 103 of the conveyer of the salting devicenow to be described. The buttering and salting devices .are thereforedriven by the samebelt and operate in timed relation. The shaft ofpulley 101 fits in an open slot in the casing 93. Therefore by detachingbelt 99 the false frame and buttering chain can be removed bodily fromthe casing for cleaning out the latter. The casing or bowl 93 has noholes or lugs and is therefore easily cleaned and may also be madeeasily detachable for sanitary purposes.

Saltz'ng device.

The corn carried'by the upper horizontal .flight of the butt'eringconveyor is discharged upon the upper flight of a conveying belt 104passing over the sprockets 103, said conveyer traveling upwardly at aslight angle and discharging the corn into a hopper converging towardand leading to the conduit 18. Above said conveyer "104 is ahorizontally extending reservoir 105 containing salt in fine granularform, the bottom of said reservoir consisting of two superposed grids106, each formed of slats 107 separated by spaces 108. ()no of saidgrids. specifically the upper one in Fig. 8, is slidablc relative to theother. the direction of sliding movement being transverse to the bars101'. Said able together or as a unit.

sliding member is provided with a depending rigid arm 109 connected toone arm of a lever 110 pivoted at 111 to a fixed support. On theconveyer chain 104 are two lugs or projections 112' spacedequi-distantly from each other along the length of the conveyer, one ofsaid lugs being at one side of. the conveyer and the other being at theother slde. As the conveyer operates these lugs in turn engage theopposite ends of lever 110, swinging said lever first in one directionand then in the other and thereby traversing the upper gridover thelower. This motion-momentarily opens up the gaps between the grid barsand allows a small amount of salt to drop onall the corn exposed on thetop of the-co'nveyer thereby salting the same. The excess .salt. dropsthrough the conveyer into a pan or receiver below the same, and isretained for later use.

00in controlling mechanism.

. which for convenience is here referred to as a battery. This source ofcurrent is in a circuit 121 including a gap 122 and an electro-magnet123 whose armature 123" is connected to two switches 124 and 125 mov-Gap 122 is located at the coin receiving chute 5, so that said gap ismomentarily closed by passage of the coin through the chute, such as byallowing the coin to roll over the gap and momentarily bridge the same.Closing of the circuit 121 energizes magnet 123 and closes switches 124and 125. Switch 125, as

will appear, establishes the delivery circuit, which is maintainedclosed until the operator has received the char e of corn to which he isentitled. Suita le mecha nism must also be provided forvmaintaining thiscircuit closed. This mechanism may be of any suitable construction, suchas a mechanical lock for locking the switch.

closed, said lock being released, for example,

by a cam or projection 129 upon the car op erating wheel 78, said camcoming into operation when the delivery of the charge of corn iscon'ipleted. The drawings show, however, an electric circuit foraccomplishing the same purpose, said circuit being known as the stickcircuit and being established by closing of the switch 125.

V Stick circuit.

and 128 of a normally closed switch and maintain closed the deliverycircuit, to be described, until the said mechanism has operated throughone cycle and delivered one charge of corn to the purchaser.

126 indicates a slide working across the coin chute close to its mouthand transverse to the direction of movement of the coin. This slide isconnected to a rod or bar 126 whose opposite end lies adjacent the pathof movement of the switch 125, or a member connected thereto.Consequently there is lost motion of the switch 125 before the slide 126is raised. When the switch 125 is closed theslide moves across the chuteand blocks the insertion of a new'coin into the chute until thedeliveryvof a charge of cdrn has been completed, whereupon the switch125 opens and the slide 126 drops back to its original position bygravity. Because of the lack of direct connection between the bar 126and switch 125 the 0 er-- ator is unable by a tool or otherwise to gainthe slide 126" in the chute and thereby hold the switch 125 closed tokeep the delivery mechanism operating but the switch 125 will open atthe conclusion of the delivery operation so that a new coin mustbeinserted,

to again bridge'the gap 122.

Delimery circuit.

The delivery circuit 131 runs from the positive side of the batterythrough the delivery motor 13 and thence through switch 125 to thenegative side of the battery. This circuit is maintained closed by theattraction of magnet 123 until the projection 129 releases said switchby opening the circuit through the magnet 123.

' Popping circuit.

A third circuit established by bridging the gap 122 is the poppingcircuit. The 'delivery mechanism operates fairly rapidly. In otherwords, about twenty seconds, more or less, elapse, between theinsertionof a coin and the discharge of the corn popped, buttered andsalted to the operator. As before stated, it requires about threeminutes to pop a charge of corn, and the parts are so proportioned thateach operation of the popping mechanism delivers into the storagereservoir approximately the amount of corn discharged to the operator.Consequently there must be a complete popping operation for each chargedelivered. If the coins are inserted at intervals of twenty seconds, sixcharges of corn will be delivered in two minutes but the poppingmechanism must continue to operatefor eighteen minutes. The mechanismshould therefore be so arranged that the insertion of anumber of coinsin fairly quick succession will set the mechanism so that the poppingdevices will continue to operate, after the purchasers have leftthe'machine, to replenish the corn withdrawn therefrom. This mechanismin the form illustrated involves co-relation or interconnection of thepopping mechanism and delivery mechanism, although any suitablemechanism for the purpose may be used.

The popping circuit runs from the positive side of the battery through awire 132 to a stationary springcontact 133 engaging a continuousconducting ring 134 carried by an insulating block 135 to which isattached a ratchet wheel 136. Said ratchet wheel is actuated by areciprocating pawl 137 operated by a cam 138 on the car operating wheel78. At each operation of said car the ratchet Wheel 136 and ring 134 arestepped around one space.

ing 134 carries a spring contact 139 whose opposite end rests upon aconducting ring 140 carried by an insulating block 141 connected to a,ratchet wheel 142, said ratchet wheel being actuated by a pawl 143operated by a cam or projection 144 upon the three minute Wheel 28. Ring140 has an insulating gap 145 therein and is Wide enough so that thecontact 139 can travel clear around said ring without interfering with a"stationary spring contact 146 through which the current is conducted tothe popping motor 12 and thence to the negative side of the battery. I

In the idle position of the parts, to-wit, when both the delivery andpopping motors are at rest, the spring contact 139 lies on theinsulating gap 145, so that the circuit through the popping motor isbroken. When a coin is inserted into the machine the circuit through thedelivery motor is closed and actuation of the delivery mechanism almostimmediately moves the pawl 137 and rotates the ring134 and contact 139one space, thereby moving said contact into a position in which thecircuit is completed through the ring 140 and through the pop pingmotor. The popping mechanism therefore begins to operate. If a number ofcoins are successively inserted into the machine, the contact 139 isadvanced along the conducting ring 140 one space for eachcoin soinserted. At the conclusion of each popping cycle the ring 140 isadvanced one space, so that finally, no matter. how many co ns areinserted into the machine, the intherefore overtaking the same, the ring140 is preferably providedwith an obstruction, such as a smallprojection 147 adjacent to said gap. Therefore, if more than forty-fivecoins are inserted contact 139 will carry the 1 ring 140 along Withitand cause the popping mechanism to operate at least through fortyfivecomplete cycles before insulated gap 145 overtakes spring contact 139.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. Apparatus-of the class described, comprising a corn popping means, areservoir for popped corn, means for delivering measured charges ofpopped corn from said reservoir, said reservoir having a capacitysuflicient to hold a plurality of such charges, means for operating saidpopping means to supply a quantity of popped corn to said reservoirsuflicient for a plurality of delivery charges, and for restarting saidpopping means upon partial emptying of said reservoir. 1 I

2. In a corn popping and. vending machine, the combination with a cornpopping means, of a poppedcorn vending means comprising a storagereceptacle and means for delivering measured charges of popped corntherefrom, and means for operating said opping means controlled by saidvending calls upon partial emptying of said reservoir.

3. In a corn popping and vending machine, the combination with acornpopping means, of a popped corn vending means comprising a storagereceptacle and means 1 .for delivering measured charges of popped corntherefrom. said reservoir having a capacity sufficient to hold a seriesof such dclivery charges, and means operable .upou

actuation of said delivery means for starting said popping means and forstopping said popping means when a quantity of popped corn correspondingto that delivered from the reservoir has been supplied thereto.

4, In a corn popping and vending machine the combination with a poppingmeans, of a device fordelivering measured charges of popped corn, meanscontrolled by the delivery means for operating saidpopping means, andmeans interposed between said popplng means and delivery means formaintaining a plurality of reserve charges of popped corn. i

5. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a corn poppingmeans'having a the poppin means to be repe 6. Apparatus of the classdescribed, comdefinite cycle of operations for popping and delivering achargeofpo-pped corn, a reservoir adapted to receive a plurality ofcharges from said popping means, means having a cycle of operationsdiffering from that of the popping means for delivering measured chargesfrom said reservoir, and means controlled by said delivering means onits first actuation for starting said popping means, said means beingadapted u on subsequent operations of the ideliverlng means to cause thecycle of operations of ated.

prising acorn popping means having a definite cycle of operations forpopping and delivering a charge of popped corn, a reservoir adapted toreceive a plurality of charges from. said popping means, means having acycle of-operations differing from that of the popping means fordelivering measured charges from said reservoir, and means controlled bysaid delivering means for starting said popping means and causing saidpopping means to operate through a number of cycles of operationssufiicient to supply a quantity of popped corn to said reservoirsubstantially corresponding to the quantity delivered- 7. Apparatus ofthe class described, comprising a reservoir for popped corn,- meansadapted -when actuated to deliver a charge ,of popped corn therefrom,popping means for supplying popped corn to said reservoir, andcontrolling means for said popping means actuated by said deliverymeans, said controlling means being arranged to permit the popping meansto operate fora suflicient period to replace the popped corn deliveredby a plurality of delivery operations.

8. Apparatus of the class described, comprising cornpopping means, areservoir supplied thereby and having a capacity for holdin a pluralityof charges of corn poppe in said popping means, means for measuring. anddelivering a measured charge of popped cornfrom said reservoir, andcontrolling means adapted when actuated to cause actuation of saidmeasurmeans and popping .means, and independent means for stop-ping theoperation of said measuring and delivery and popping means.

10. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a reservoir, poppingmeans, an electric motor for operating the same, means for delivering acharge of popped corn from said reservoir, an electrlc motor foroperating the same, independent electric circuits for said motors, meansfor closing the circuit to said delivering motor, and means actuated bythe delivery means for closing the circuit to the popping motor.

11. Apparatus of the class. described, comprising a reservoir, poppingmeans, an electric motor for operating the same, means for delivering acharge of popped corn from said reservoir, an electric motor for oerating the same, independent circuits or said motors, and switchmechanism included in said popping motor circuit, and controlled by thedelivery motor circuit.

12. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a reservoir, poppingmeans, an, electric motor for operating the same, means for delivering acharge of popped corn from said reservoir, an electric motor foroperating the same, independent circuits for said motors. switchmechanism in said popping circuit. said switch mechanism beingcontrolled by the delivery motor circuit and being constructed andarranged] to cause operation of the popping motor for a suflicientperiod to replace popped corn withdrawn from the reservoir by a numberof operations of the delivery motor- In testimony whereof I aflix mysignature.

WILLIAM D. ROOT.

